Social studies of accounting have drawn attention to the dubious role of accounting as a representational link between organizational realities and action. Based on five years immersion with performance management and board work in a theatre company, this thesis inquires into the ontological significance of accounting practices. The study takes a praxiographic approach, which emphasizes action and relocates questions of representation towards the practices in which representations are mobilized. The research questions refer specifically to ontological work related to commensurability and distance in accounting practices. Four papers attend to the manners in which the organizational performance of the theatre company is represented in different situations of managing, governing and reporting. The papers demonstrate and analyse different examples of ontological work involved in achieving (or retracting) representational links. In conclusion, the thesis places the organizing of ontological tensions – especially the tension between singular accounting representations and multiple organizational realities – at the core of accounting representation practices. The thesis thus contributes to practical, theoretical and philosophical discussions on the links between accounting practices, accounts and reality. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 2: Manuscript. Paper 3: Manuscript. Paper 4: Manuscript.</p>

Measurement of performance is important to the construction sector as an additional way of improving and sustaining competitiveness in the long-term. Most large construction organisations in the United Kingdom (UK) practise performance measurement because they believe it affects their business positively in the longer-term. Performance measurement is thus, recognised as an important way of keeping an organisation on track in achieving its strategic objectives. However, there are still construction organisations that believe performance measurement does not aid in creating and developing appropriate strategies for their organisations, but helps organisations in identifying areas where they did or did not perform well. The improvements in performance thus, can only be brought about through step-by-step strategic guidance to organisations to achieve their performance targets. The first step towards achieving these targets comprises the following: understand the performance measurement process of organisations, and identify the appropriate criteria that need to be measured to improve business; identify strengths and opportunities, which in turn can create a way to maximise profits for an organisation. Such an approach would help organisations target relevant performance measurements and embed them in their organisational strategy in a structured step-by-step manner. Premised on the foregoing, this research project aims to investigate potential tools for improving performance measurement practices in the construction industry. In addition, this research aims to assist organisations in implementing performance measurement in a proper manner and to help them understand the performance measurement process. The first step (objective 1) of this research is to review the generic body of literature in performance measurement to understand key concepts, definitions and existing practices and identify commonly used performance measurement tools. It is noted that there are several definitions of performance measurement. However, at its basic level, performance measurement is a process of determining how successful organisations or individuals have been in attaining their objectives and strategies. To achieve this, the outputs of an organisation's strategic and operational processes are measured in a quantifiable form; the results are used to monitor closely the performance of the organisation, internally and externally. Findings of the review (and later those of objectives 2 and 3) reveal that the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) and the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Excellence Model are the two most widely known and used tools, in all sectors including construction, to measure an organisation s performance. Semi-structured interviews (objectives 2 and 3) were conducted with performance measurement directors and managers in large UK construction companies. The interviews revealed that performance measurement is being practised in organisations directly or indirectly to help improve businesses and profits. The purpose of interviews was to seek the organisations views on how they approach and conduct performance measurement and derive benefits from it. All organisations agreed that the financial aspects such as profit margins and growth, as well as non-financial aspects such as health and safety and customer satisfaction are important criteria to be measured. Both financial and non-financial criteria need to be considered and included in an organisation's strategy; they are important considerations for any future strategy development. Findings of the interviews and the literature review suggest the best way to create an organisation's strategy as the following: understand the performance measurement process of organisations and identify the appropriate criteria, which need to be measured to improve business; identify strengths and opportunities, which in turn can create a way to maximise profits for an organisation. This led to the development of a Framework (also called the Performance Measurement Migration Path) (objective 4), which would help organisations target relevant performance measurements and embed them in their organisational strategy in a structured step-by-step manner. Its implementation in organisations can make performance measurement processes easy and smooth. Evaluation (objective 5) of the framework confirms its suitability and acceptability to industry players for the use in improving the implementation of performance measurement.

Over the past several years state departments of transportation (DOTs) have been faced with the challenge of mounting traffic congestion and dwindling transportation funds. It is against this backdrop that the need for optimal resource allocation decisions has become of utmost importance. Two emerging fields in transportation planning, performance measurement and multimodal planning, have the potential to assist agencies in investing transportation resources in the most effective manner. The confluence of these two fields at the strategic level, strategic multimodal performance measurement, is a promising approach for state DOTs looking to meet the public's growing transportation needs in spite of the dwindling financial resources available. Currently, many states are having difficulty developing performance measurement programs that incorporate a multimodal perspective to facilitate cross-modal comparisons. The objective of this research is to identify innovations and best practices at leading state DOTs in strategic multimodal performance measurement in order to assist other DOTs in the development or improvement of their strategic multimodal performance measurement programs. First, a review of literature examined the existing research related to performance measurement and multimodal planning. From this review of literature, a list of criteria was developed to evaluate strategic multimodal performance measurement programs. Additionally, a group of state DOTs with success in performance measurement or multimodal planning was identified. Next, a nationwide survey of multimodal practices at state DOTs was conducted to identify the current practices in strategic multimodal performance measurement. This survey, along with the literature review and discussions with practitioners, guided the selection of five state DOTs that case studies were performed on. Each of the case studies was organized and evaluated based on the criteria established in the literature review. The findings of this research suggest that performance measures for non-highway modes still lag behind those for highways, even in leading state DOTs. The findings also suggest that state DOTs have yet to develop a leading methodology for multimodal tradeoff analysis, but that performance measurement systems that are analogous across all modes have great potential for facilitating cross-modal comparisons.

No description available.

Internet retailing is one of the fast-growing business sectors in the UK, and this sector is currently entering a more stable development stage. In this stage, the issue of business strategy and performance measurement, often neglected during the dotcom era, is gaining in importance. Although various studies have been done, the investigation of this issue is limited. This study helps to fill this gap by investigating performance measurement and business strategy of Internet retailing business, and their significance in enhancing business performance. A mail questionnaire was used in a survey of UK Internet retailers. The questionnaire contained variables of performance indicators, use of performance measurement, strategic orientation, businessp erformance, and business profile. The survey produced 252 responses of small-and-medium-sized internet retailers, defined as having less than £10 million of annual online sales turnover. By factor analysis, strategic orientation can be treated as having two dimensions:( 1) conservativeness, and (2) aggressiveness; business performance, two: (1) financial, and (2) operational; and performance measurement, one: the number of performance indicators measured. The findings show that UK Internet retailers are likely to concentrate their performance measurement more on financial, market-sales, and web-related indicators rather than customer and process. After controlling for variations of business size, the empirical results reveal that (1) more conservative retailers are likely to measure more performance indicators, (2) retailers using more performance indicators are likely to have better operational performance, and (3) less aggressiveness retailers tend to be associated with better financial performance. This study has provided evidence that strategic orientation is associated with the financial aspect of business performance, and performance measurement with the operational aspect of business performance. The results provide useful insights for Internet retailing managers, especially concerning the importance of performance measurement, and the choice of strategic orientation. More importantly, this study opens up possibilities for further study of performance measurement and businesss strategy of internet retailing business

Water supply and distribution infrastructures are vital for current life. They have a significant role in public health, providing safe water for drinking and human consumption as well as for essential non-potable uses such as fire fighting. These diverse objectives create challenges for everyone who must address in some way the actual performance of the system. This research critically evaluates all common objectives of conventional design approaches and evaluates the advantages and drawbacks of various performance measures. New ideas for a more realistic and comprehensive approach to the design, operation assessment of WDS are proposed. A new approach, called a Risk-based Performance Assessment, for hydraulic performance evaluation is tentatively proposed. It is based on integration of reliability, resiliency, and vulnerability as three basic operational indices in the operation of WDS. Furthermore, the Total Life-cycle Cost evaluation approach is tentatively proposed based on considering all major costs of a WDS.

Water supply and distribution infrastructures are vital for current life. They have a significant role in public health, providing safe water for drinking and human consumption as well as for essential non-potable uses such as fire fighting. These diverse objectives create challenges for everyone who must address in some way the actual performance of the system. This research critically evaluates all common objectives of conventional design approaches and evaluates the advantages and drawbacks of various performance measures. New ideas for a more realistic and comprehensive approach to the design, operation assessment of WDS are proposed. A new approach, called a Risk-based Performance Assessment, for hydraulic performance evaluation is tentatively proposed. It is based on integration of reliability, resiliency, and vulnerability as three basic operational indices in the operation of WDS. Furthermore, the Total Life-cycle Cost evaluation approach is tentatively proposed based on considering all major costs of a WDS.

Thesis (DBA(DoctorateofBusinessAdministration))--University of South Australia, 2002.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Uppsala : Univ., 2007. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Univ., Diss.--Genève, 2007.